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Windows 7: *Some* Desktop Icons Keep Disappearing

I have been running 6.1 (7600) for some time now, and in the last week or two I have been getting some bizarre behaviour.

My desktop has around 50 icons, I have always had lots on my desktop. Over the last 2 weeks, I find 5 of them (always the same 5) disappearing. 1 is to a hard disk, 3 are for DVD drives and another is a game.

The devices themselves never disconnect or become unavailable...I know this because I was watching a DVD full screen, and when it finished...the icons had disappeared again (including the drive I was watching).

Restarting doesn't cause this to happen. When I replace the icons and reboot, they are still there.

Welcome to SevenForums, PureLoneWolf
I had a problem like this with my gadgets gone missing. Then I saw my 5yr old hitting the x and making them go away. I am sure your problem is not that simple but thought a little fun might ease your pain. Good luck to you with this delema!

I have had similar problems and it is usually happening with "shortcut" Icons.

One fix I have is to reset the IconCache. To do this:

1. Close all folder windows that are currently open.2. Launch Task Manager3. In the Process tab, right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process.4. Click the End process button when asked for confirmation.5. From the File menu of Task Manager, select New Task (Run…)6. Type CMD.EXE, and click OK7. In the Command Prompt window, type the commands one by one and press ENTER after each command:CD /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
DEL IconCache.db /a
EXIT8. In Task Manager, click File, select New Task (Run…)9. Type EXPLORER.EXE, and click OK.

Hope this helps

Kevin

Quote: Originally Posted by PureLoneWolf

Hi all

I have been running 6.1 (7600) for some time now, and in the last week or two I have been getting some bizarre behaviour.

My desktop has around 50 icons, I have always had lots on my desktop. Over the last 2 weeks, I find 5 of them (always the same 5) disappearing. 1 is to a hard disk, 3 are for DVD drives and another is a game.

The devices themselves never disconnect or become unavailable...I know this because I was watching a DVD full screen, and when it finished...the icons had disappeared again (including the drive I was watching).

Restarting doesn't cause this to happen. When I replace the icons and reboot, they are still there.

It is hard to tell whether or not the advice offered was helpful to you or not. Or if it solved your problem or not. Common group etiquette dictates that if you post a question and you are offered a possible solution to your problem that you take the time to post any info as to whether or not it helped with the problem so that others can make use of the solution or information.

Im not sure if im going to get shouted at for opening such an old thread but I just wanted to say a massive thanks to KevinC your a life saver, and the tutorial you gave sorted it. I really need to have a crash course in command prompt

Anyway in answer to your question vnzjunk it does work, and PureLoneWolf you should have said so.

I would just like to say that, firstly, the issue was indeed resolved by the info KevinC provided.

I can only apologise for not returning to confirm the fix. It's by no means an excuse, but due to the intermittent nature of the issue, that would happen randomly and in no fixed time period. By the time I noticed that the issue was resolved, I had forgotten it existed in the first place. Unfortunately I didn't receive any notifications that replies had been posted, else I would have dropped on to confirm a LOT earlier.

Once again, many thanks for the assistance, and I will most definitely return to confirm fixes in the future.

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